Game day with a super goal

Miles McMath, director of culinary operations at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, suggests New Orleans-theme party food since this year's Super Bowl is being held in the Big Easy.

The Commercial Appeal

On Sunday, Nikki and Heath Cummings will welcome about 100 guests to their Bartlett home to watch the Super Bowl.

When it's all over, the San Francisco 49ers or the Baltimore Ravens will be the new champions; either way, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital will win.The Cummingses are hosting their third "Game Day. Give Back." party. It's a simple idea: They invite guests, using the website stjude.org/gameday, and ask their guests to make a donation to St. Jude.

"Last year, we raised right under $5,000," Nikki said. "Some people that didn't even come to the party donated."

Miles McMath doesn't care about football or the Super Bowl. But he's pretty sure he'll have a pig roast on his Hernando property when the big day rolls around.

"I think we'll have something out in a field, I guess with a TV," said McMath, director of culinary operations at St. Jude.

The program started in 2011 and has raised about $2.1 million for the research center, or a bit more than the $1.8 million it takes to operate it daily.

"We're always looking for fun and creative ways for people to support St. Jude," said Steele Ford, director of

sports marketing at ALSAC/St. Jude. "On Super Bowl Sunday, you've got people already getting together for what is an unofficial holiday."This year, McMath is in the game suggesting recipes for parties. As New Orleans is the host city, he was able to pull from his personal experience with Creole and Cajun cuisine to come up with recipes.

"This hits home with me," he said. "I had a lot of family in New Orleans, and I spent a lot of time in my childhood there."

A Birmingham native, McMath moved to Hernando with his parents when he was a teenager. He owned Timbeaux's on the Square in Hernando and later the Boiling Point in Southaven. After Hurricane Katrina, McMath went to New Orleans and spent a year working in restaurants there and in Hammond, a town north of the city.

"I love New Orleans," he said.

And the city shares something else with San Francisco and Baltimore: They're all coastal.

"You can do something with crab and cover all three bases," McMath said.

Or you can just go with party food. At the Cummings house, guests will feast on chili, hot wings (Buffalo Wild Wings donated them last year and is doing it again this year), and sliders. The hosts will also have a make-it-yourself barbecue nachos bar and will provide beverages. Guests often contribute.

"Close friends pitch in," Nikki said. "We do the main dishes, and they bring other things."

Hosting a party for 100 people comes with logistics issues.

"We'll have a TV in the game room, a big screen in the living room, a projector set up in the garage and maybe one on the back porch," she said. "We've got to get everything ready."

In addition to food, drink and plenty of places for watching the game, Heath has planned games for halftime.

"People get excited about this," Ford said.

"A lot of what we try to do is to give people a chance to channel their passion, whatever it is — food, sports, whatever — to channel it back to St. Jude.

It's about the food for McMath.

"It reminds me of seeing people tailgating in New Orleans," he said. "It was amazing to see how these people were set up, how they were cooking and how much fun they were having. I can remember thinking, 'These people couldn't care less about the game.'"

To make the party festive, decorate your food with team colors, McMath said.

Make Jell-O shots in team colors, which are red, gold and white for the 49ers, and purple, black, gold and white for the ravens. If you want to make the shots kid-friendly, use Sprite in place of alcohol.

And to further honor the host city, be sure to have king cake — it's Mardi Gras season, after all. Just decorate with sugar in your team colors instead of the traditional green, gold and purple.

"You can put a little football in, and whoever gets it hosts the next Super Bowl party," he said.

The main thing is to remember that you can have fun and benefit St. Jude.

"This is really about how you can have a party for the Super Bowl," McMath said, "but it's really for so much more."

Andouille-Beer Bread

Makes 1 loaf.

3 cups self-rising flour

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 (12-ounce) can beer at room temperature

1/4 cup pickled sliced jalapeños

2 links Andouille sausage, cooked and diced (or other smoked sausage)

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Mix all ingredients, except butter, in the order shown, in a large bowl. Allow beer to foam while pouring into the flour mixture. Pour mixture into a greased loaf pan. Pat down and make a deep trench down the center to prevent it from rising too high.

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 40 minutes. Brush with butter. Continue baking for 10 more minutes or until golden brown.

Cajun Drunken Chicken

Serves 4 to 6.

3 pound whole fryer chicken

1 (12-ounce) can domestic beer

Cajun Rub

2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon each garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon thyme

First, combine all seasonings for Cajun rub in small bowl.

Wash and pat dry the chicken and rub the Cajun rub into the bird.

Open beer with punch type can opener, making 4 holes. Pour out about 1/4 of the beer. Ease the chicken down over the beer can. Heat grill and place the upright chicken on indirect heat. Cover with lid and grill and smoke for about 2 hours.